Management tools for quantification of performance and outcome of winter transportation infrastructure maintenance activities

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and system for evaluating winter transportation infrastructure maintenance operations includes a quantification component and a simulation component. Input data representative of collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenance data and observed transportation infrastructure data are modeled in a comprehensive data processing mechanism to measure and carry out effective and efficient winter maintenance planning and operations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority to U.S. provisional application61/592,467, filed on Jan. 30, 2012, the contents of which areincorporated in their entirety herein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance. More specifically, particular embodiments ofthe present invention relate to quantifying and simulating theperformance and outcome of winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance activities to improve activity evaluation for efficiency andeffectiveness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Historically, agencies and entities that undertake or are responsiblefor winter transportation infrastructure maintenance activities havemeasured resource utilization in the performance of such wintermaintenance activities in several ways. At the lowest level, deicer,abrasive, equipment, and labor usage are estimated and logged byindividuals performing winter maintenance, or by their directsupervisors. At the highest level, an agency or entity may also wish totrack resource utilization through its procurement and/or payrollprocesses (e.g. the agency may have direct information as to thequantity of a particular resource it has purchased over a given timeframe). In many cases, both approaches are utilized, with ad-hoc methodsused to address the potentially substantial differences which inevitablyresult when trying to integrate data from bottom-up and top-downmeasurement methods.

In addition to tracking resource utilization, many agencies also definegoals for the results of winter maintenance activities, and then attemptto measure the over- or under-achievement of these goals. This may beconsidered as an attempt to measure the ‘effectiveness’ of wintermaintenance operations, and is a far more difficult step due to theinherent subjectivity involved in assessing road conditions, much lessthe difficulty of tracking changes to the road conditions over time inresponse to maintenance activities performed in the face of changingweather conditions.

Taken together, knowledge of winter maintenance resource utilization andwinter maintenance effectiveness permit the determination of wintermaintenance efficiency. There are inherent tradeoffs between resourceutilization and the road conditions resulting from it, and efficiencymeasurement permits evaluation of these tradeoffs.

Complicating an efficiency measurement for winter maintenance activitiesis the variability of weather conditions. When comparing data from onearea to another, or one storm or weather pattern to another, thevariability of weather conditions makes it very difficult for wintermaintenance managers to know whether the maintenance response wasappropriate for the weather conditions being treated. This hindersmanagement's ability to identify which practices and approaches are moreeffective or efficient, since it is difficult to ascertain whether anyparticular comparison over time, or between maintenance jurisdictions,is appropriate. Naturally, this impedes the ability of the agency orentity to identify and implement practices and policies which improvewinter maintenance effectiveness and efficiency.

The traditional approach to addressing this problem is to develop awinter severity index, which is an attempt to quantify, in a singleFIGURE, the impact of varying weather conditions on winter maintenance.There are, however, numerous problems with such an approach toquantification. One problem is that this approach is developed bydrawing simplified and often statistical relationships between pastweather conditions and historical agency resource utilization. Thus,such indices are typically simply a reflection of an agency's historicalresponse to weather conditions, and thus not a reliable independentmetric.

This is reflected in the fact that there are few, if any, instances ofan agency successfully adopting and applying a winter severity indexdeveloped within another agency. Almost invariably, each agency willchange the index, or develop a new index altogether, that betterexplains the relationship it has historically experienced betweenweather conditions and maintenance data. This ad-hoc, agency-to-agencyapproach makes cross-jurisdictional comparisons of maintenanceefficiency very difficult. Additionally, the value of winter severityindices is inherently limited because of the gross oversimplification ofthe underlying relationships. The same weather conditions may elicit anentirely different (yet still appropriate) winter maintenance responsedepending upon traffic patterns, maintenance policies and resources, andthe characteristics of the ambient environment the roads are embeddedin. None of these factors can be accounted for by a normalizing metricthat is based upon weather alone.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Agencies and entities responsible for winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance are often confronted with the enormouslydifficult problem of measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of theirsnow and ice control operations. The quantity of resources utilized, andthe effectiveness of these winter maintenance activities, are bothdifficult to measure and difficult to normalize for weather conditionsthat vary over both time and space. The present invention provideswinter maintenance managers with a combination of tools to address theseproblems with traditional methods and systems of measurement.

The present invention is a system and method of managing performance andoutcome of winter transportation infrastructure maintenance activitiesthat is comprised of two components: one in the form of a tool forquantifying the maintenance activities that are performed (and theresults of those activities), and a second for independently simulatingmaintenance activities which were required (and the expected results ofthose activities) in response to observed weather conditions. Together,these two components provide a comprehensive solution that both enableswinter maintenance managers to better understand their current wintermaintenance operations, and provides independent, weather-sensitivemetrics against which the effectiveness and efficiency of wintermaintenance operations can be evaluated.

The quantification component of the present invention includes severalfeatures which materially improve the ability to evaluate performance ofwinter transportation infrastructure maintenance systems. Thequantification component integrates a vendor-independent database ofinformation collected by snow maintenance vehicles with hardware andmodules configured to carry out various data processing functions. Amongthese are functions for determining a direction of maintenance vehicletravel in the context of a road network, and using lane information tofurther assist registration of data to an agency's road network. Otherdata processing functions accommodate a generic system of road networksegmentation for geo-registration of maintenance data based on location,direction of travel, and/or lane information, and provide the ability tosimultaneously track and register separate activities a maintenancevehicle may be instantaneously performing to separate lanes (includingopposing lanes) of a stretch of highway.

The quantification component also includes the ability to break downreported material mixtures, or applications, into their componentmaterials, to facilitate comparisons across maintenance divisions thatmay use differing mixtures, and the ability to track key quantities ofinterest to maintenance managers that are not readily identifiable fromthe GPS- and time-tagged truck reports. An example of this is the totaldistance driven with a particular plow in the down position so as topermit analysis of factors influencing the rate of blade wear. Thequantification component also includes the ability to aggregate GPS- andtime-tagged truck reports into ‘maintenance actions’ that are moreeasily assessed for appropriateness for conditions, or consistency withagency-provided maintenance guidelines, and leverages an approach forpreventing erroneous accrual of such data owing to GPS stray while atruck is physically stationary. An example of this is to set lowerlimits on speeds and distances traveled at which a vehicle is assumed tobe performing maintenance. This is particularly beneficial in asituation where trucks are left stationary all day, yet may be showinglow calculated speeds or distances because of GPS stray. If such avehicle is unloading material at the same time, or has a plow in a downposition, this may inadvertently accumulate into substantial quantitiesover time.

The quantification component further includes modules for viewing andanalyzing the collected data with a graphical user interface. Thesemodules permit specification of user-selectable timeframes for analysis,ranging from hour-by-hour up to seasonal applications of the data,tabular presentations organized such that each row represents data for asingle truck/road segment combination, that can be grouped by truck,road segment, routes (groups of road segments), and/or all in order toanalyze data in whichever way best accommodates the particularapplication of the data, map-based presentations of the data asregistered to the agency's road network, and filters for defining morecomplex groupings of trucks and/or road segments, and limiting dataassessments to those groups. Further capabilities include exporting rawand/or grouped data for external analysis and application.

The simulation component of the present invention also has severalfeatures which materially improve the ability to evaluate performance ofwinter transportation infrastructure maintenance systems. The simulationcomponent incorporates a road condition assessment, along with observedor otherwise assessed weather information, agency-provided informationsuch as traffic profiles, road construction, etc., and environmentalparameters to simulate the most likely response in the condition of aroad to weather conditions that are experienced. Simulation within thepresent invention uses one of two approaches for identifying anappropriate maintenance response for each situation requiringmaintenance: a response based on agency standard practices, and adynamically-determined response based on available maintenance resourcesand agency maintenance policies/practices.

The present invention simulates the impacts of those maintenanceactions, and the subsequent need for additional maintenance activities,and makes both the input and simulated data available to a graphicaluser interface via a series of modules that permit specification ofuser-selectable timeframes for analysis, ranging from hour-by-hour up toseasonal applications of the data, and tabular, graphical and map-basedpresentations of both the raw data and its aggregate characteristics.The GUI also includes additional tools such as a calculator functionthat permits on-the-fly calculation and visualization of multivariateequations reliant upon this data, including, but not limited to,calculations which permit the assignment of costs to individual aspectsof the simulated maintenance data to arrive at an overall cost ofmaintenance, and the calculation of more traditional winter severityindices based upon combinations of the input weather data. Also providedare capabilities for exporting raw and/or aggregated data for externalanalysis and application.

Other embodiments, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the embodiments, takentogether with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a quantification component of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a simulation component of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a tabular representation of MDC/AVL (Maintenance DataCollection/Automated Vehicle Location) data in the quantificationcomponent of the present invention, with associated grouping, filteringand sorting options;

FIG. 4 is an example of a map-based representation of MDC/AVL data inthe quantification component of the present invention, after beingassigned and aggregated over segments of an agency's road network;

FIG. 5 is a graphical time-series depiction of weather conditions, andsimulated road conditions and maintenance activities, for a road segmentwithin an agency's road network in the simulation component of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a tabular view of simulated maintenance activities required ona segment of road within an agency's road network in the simulationcomponent of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a map-based presentation of selected aggregate weather, roadcondition, or maintenance data as modeled by the simulation component ofthe present invention, in which the variable displayed is simulated saltusage over the selected period;

FIG. 8 is a map-based presentation of selected aggregate weather, roadcondition, or maintenance data as modeled by the simulation component ofthe present invention, in which the variable displayed is the averageair temperature over the selected period; and

FIG. 9 is a calculator tool associated with the map-based presentationtool for the simulation component of the present invention, permittingmultivariate calculations based upon available weather, road condition,and/or maintenance parameters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description of the present invention reference is madeto the accompanying figures which form a part thereof, and in which isshown, by way of illustration, exemplary embodiments illustrating theprinciples of the present invention and how it is practiced. Otherembodiments will be utilized to practice the present invention andstructural and functional changes will be made thereto without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

Many agencies and entities responsible for winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance collect data from weather maintenancevehicles, often using mobile/maintenance data collection and automatedvehicle location systems, known in the industry together as MDC/AVLsystems. These utilize global positioning systems (GPS) and on-boarddata logging and/or transmission capabilities to provide instantaneousGPS-tagged reports of winter maintenance vehicle activities (e.g., plowposition(s), material applications, etc.) and/or observed environmentalconditions (e.g., road temperatures and/or conditions, etc.). Asdiscussed above, the available data can often vary considerably from oneMDC/AVL system to the next, and because of these types of datadisparities, the aggregation, road network assignment, and visualizationcapabilities typically fail to meet an agency's needs to realize thefull benefit of that data.

The present invention addresses issues such as those above experiencedwith existing approaches and technology with a winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance method and system that includes twointer-operational components. A first component of the present inventionis a quantification component 100 that integrates a plurality ofvendor-independent databases 130, one or more servers 170, and multiplemanagement-oriented data processing functions resident in one or moremodules to enable agencies to realize the full benefit of theircollected winter maintenance data. A second, simulation component 200 isdiscussed further herein.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of the quantification component100. The quantification component 100 ingests various types of inputdata from different sources and maintained by a plurality of databases130. One such source is mobile data collection and automated vehiclelocation systems 110, which are coupled to winter maintenance vehicles120, such as for example snowplows and deicers. The plurality ofdatabases 130 may include a road network database 132, a weather andmaintenance activity guidance database 134, trucks and applicationsdatabases 136, and a truck reports database 138. Other sources of dataacting as input to the quantification component 100 may also be includedin the present invention. The input data therefore represents collectedwinter transportation infrastructure maintenance information that atleast includes treatment data, road and transportation network data,weather data, and component apportionment data.

Data from the mobile data collection and automated vehicle locationsystems 110 is communicated to a data ingest and normalization module140. This data ingest and normalization module 140 is composed of aplurality of data processing sub-modules, and data from the plurality ofdatabases 130 is communicated to at least one of such data processingsub-modules. For example, data from the road network database 132 may becommunicated to a road network referencing module 142, data from theweather and guidance database 134 may be communicated to a weather andguidance association module 144, and data may also be communicated fromthe trucks and applications database 136 to a component materials module146. Other sub-modules involved in performing data processing functionsin the data ingest and normalization module 140 at least include anactivity cohesion module 148, which coalesces a series of GPS-taggedtruck reports based on time and location(s) being treated. Eachsub-module is configured, as described further herein, to perform one ormore data processing functions to arrive at quantified output data 102for use in determining evaluating effectiveness and efficiency of wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance operations.

Output data from the ingest and normalization module 140, together withrelevant information about treatment vehicles and treatment applicationsfrom the database 136, are aggregated with treatment vehicle reportsstored in the truck report database 138 in an aggregation module 150that generates output data to a quantified maintenance activitiesdatabase 160. The present invention also includes one or more servers170, configured to manage a plurality of processors to perform thevarious data processing functions of the quantification component 100.Together, all of these databases and data processing modules in the dataingest and normalization module 140 provide a comprehensive frameworkfor compiling, maintaining, processing and normalizing data within thequantification component 100.

The quantification component 100 therefore aggregates road, weather,treatment vehicle, and treatment application information collected froma plurality of sources. According to one aspect of the presentinvention, one way of processing this input data in the quantificationcomponent 100 is a comprehensive mechanism for associating GPS-taggedand time-tagged “truck reports” to an agency's transportationinfrastructure network, based on data such as GPS position, direction oftravel, and lane information. Direction of travel is based uponsuccessive locations relative to a coordinate system, so that the systemfunctions properly in situations with switchbacks, crossovers,underpasses, or other attributes which may not be easily amenable toapplication of heading-based assignment of a direction of travel(especially in the presence of longer intervals between GPS-taggedreports). Other data, such as for example lane information, is treatedin a generic manner amenable to different agencies' lane identificationsystems, and permits assignment of differing activities being undertakenby the vehicle, at the same instant, to differing lanes (e.g., thevehicle may be treating lanes A and B, but plowing only lane A, wherelane B could optionally be in an opposing direction of travel), and thusto potentially differing segments of the agency's transportationinfrastructure network.

The quantification component 100 therefore allows for assigninginformation not only based upon location, but also based upon lane anddirection of travel. An associated mechanism for segmenting an agency'stransportation infrastructure network in one or more ways is alsosupported, along with processes for aggregating information based onthese defined segments. The quantification component 100 thus permitsdata assignment and aggregation, e.g. for a particular snowplow route,so that maintenance activities are not only measurable per vehicle, butalso per snowplow route, or any number of other defined segmentations ofthe transportation infrastructure network of interest to the agency.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an additionalmethod of data processing to normalize input data in the quantificationcomponent 100 addresses the issue of understanding the componentbreakdown of material treatment applications being applied to the roadnetwork. Snowplows may be equipped to spread arbitrary mixtures ofdeicer and/or abrasive, in one or more forms (e.g. liquid, dry,pre-wet). For a variety of reasons, the maintenance materials andspecific mixtures that are used may vary substantially from onemaintenance route to the next. The quantification component 100 of thepresent invention permits agencies to specify the component materialsand apportionments in any particular mixture their fleet may choose toapply and report, so that data from routes or trucks from all across theagency can be compared upon utilization of the component materials thatmake up the mixtures being applied. This is a significant and valuablefeature for agencies, as they may have many different mixtures (e.g.“10% Salt/90% Sand”, “15% Salt/85% Sand”, “15% Salt/80% Sand/5% IceSlicer”, etc.) in use across a given agency, but a much more limitednumber of component materials that serve as the fundamental buildingblocks for these mixtures. The present invention thus permits managersto filter through the variability in material applications and addressthe more important question of where, when and to what extent theparticular component materials they purchase are being utilized.

Other issues managers are faced with when evaluating the wintermaintenance operations of their agency are whether a maintenanceresponse was appropriate for the weather conditions, and whether or notrecommended maintenance activities are being followed, regardless ofwhether they are developed from the agency's published set of standardpractices or provided by a maintenance support system. Thequantification component 100 addresses both of these issues with logicthat performs a cohesion of specific GPS-tagged and time-tagged truckreports into coherent maintenance actions representing the collectiveactivities of their fleet during a single treatment of a particularsegment of road (e.g, “Trucks A and B collectively spread an average of235 lbs/ln-mi of pre-wet sodium chloride on road segment C between timeD and time E”, as opposed to working with the potentially hundreds orthousands of GPS-tagged and time-tagged truck reports that mayconstitute that maintenance action). These maintenance actions can thenbe associated with both weather events and specific maintenancerecommendations, the characteristics of which are both also stored inone or more additional database storage locations operably coupled tothe quantification component 100. Thus, a manager can evaluate theextent to which a particular truck or road segment has been treated inaccordance with the agency's maintenance policies, or recommendationsthat have been received, and the extent to which the treatments beingmade are considered appropriate for the weather events being treated(e.g., the manager can easily discern whether a particular deicer isbeing used outside its intended range of pavement temperatures).

The quantification component 100 and simulation component 200 alsoinclude, in one aspect of the present invention, interrelating databasetables to process and assess collected data as discussed above. Databaseinterrelationships are utilized in conjunction with the block diagram ofcomponents in FIG. 1, in addition to the block diagram of components inFIG. 2, and it is to be understood that the present invention is alsocomprised of a server, protocols, functions, logic, data objects,program instructions, and related software modules for managing theinsertion, extraction, and manipulation of the data among the variousdatabase components discussed herein. Program instructions may beresident in one or more memory module components of the data processingmodules discussed herein, and called to perform the data processingfunctions necessary to model, analyze and interpret the input data andoutput data in each of the quantification component 100 and thesimulation component 200.

As it pertains to the quantification component 100, data processing isperformed across a plurality of functions in one or more of the modulestherein for conducting various operations on the input data, includingbut not limited to data processing functions for manipulating treatmentapplications and component materials, data processing functions formanaging vehicles, data processing functions for managing GPS andtime-tagged truck reports, and data processing functions for managingenvironmental variables.

Functions for manipulating treatment applications and componentmaterials include a get_materials function, which retrieves data objectsassociated with available component materials from one or more databasesfor processing. Similarly, a get_applications function retrieves dataobjects associated with specific applications from the one or moredatabases. A create_applications function may create, configure and nameone or more new treatment applications comprised of one or morecomponent materials. An update_applications function permitsmodification of properties of one or more existing applications, and adelete_applications function marks one or more applications as deleted.It should be noted that the application itself is not deleted from thedatabase; the application itself remains accessible for interpretationof items such as previously-received truck reports, which are dependenton them.

Treatment vehicle management functions within the data processingfunctions of the one or more modules in the quantification component 100include functions for creating, updating, deleting, and obtaininginformation related to maintenance vehicles such as trucks. For example,create_trucks is a function for creating and configuring one or more newvehicles in the one or more databases. Update_trucks serves the purposeof updating existing properties associated with one or more vehicles,and get_trucks retrieves one or more data objects associated withvehicles. Delete_trucks marks vehicles as deleted, but does not actuallydelete them, so that they are still accessible for interpretation oftruck reports dependent upon them.

The quantification component 100 also includes specific data processingfunctions managing GPS-tagged and time-tagged vehicle or truck reports.For example, a get_truck_reports function retrieves data objectsassociated with vehicle reports from the one or more databases, whileget_latest_truck_reports retrieves the identifiers of most recentvehicle reports from specific vehicles. A create_truck_reports functioncreates new GPS-tagged and/or time-tagged vehicle reports,update_truck_reports updates the properties of one or more vehiclereports, replace_truck_reports replaces all the properties of one ormore vehicle reports without deleting associations of the vehiclereports replaced, and delete_truck_reports deletes specific reports fromthe one or more databases.

Data processing functions for managing environmental variables may alsobe included. For example, a get_variables function may be accessed toreturn a dictionary of qualitative and quantitative variables used inthe environment section of vehicle reports.

It is to be understood that these functions may be built andincorporated into one or more of the modules with any name and withspecific purposes that differ than those explicitly described, dependingon the type of data processing to be conducted in the quantificationcomponent 100. Regardless, these functions are integrated to carry outtasks associated with modeling the input data to evaluate theeffectiveness and efficiency of winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance activities in the present invention.

No aspect of the present invention is to be limited by any method ofcreating or storing “raw” data, and therefore it is contemplated thatinput and output data may be presented, maintained, manipulated andstored in a number of ways for the above data processing functions. Forexample, a data object for passing truck reports between the server andexternal processes may be formatted as JavaScript Object Notation-(JSON)or any other programming paradigm suitable for accomplishing theintentions presented herein.

As discussed above, the quantification component 100 permits an improvedunderstanding of winter maintenance activities performed. The presentinvention expands upon the metrics generated by the quantificationcomponent 100 and the value of the data processing analytics availableby providing, in a second component 200, similar data from acorresponding, independently-generated simulation of winter maintenanceactivities over the same timeframe. The present invention thereforeprovides managers, engineers, and others responsible for wintermaintenance with both the required data in quantified form as well as ameasuring stick to enhance performance measurement and evaluation.

Accordingly, the present invention includes a second, simulationcomponent 200 of a winter transportation infrastructure maintenancesystem. The simulation component 200 allows weather conditions over apotentially lengthy period of time to be defined at, for example, anhourly level, drawing upon a variety of meteorological data resources.The simulation component 200 utilizes a road condition model 220, withinwhich weather information can be transformed into simulated roadconditions over time, influenced by the prior road conditions, weatherconditions, maintenance actions, traffic, environmental factors, etc.The resulting simulated output data 202 can then be used to estimate theimpacts of weather conditions on road users, road administrators, and/orthe environment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the simulation component 200 of the presentinvention. In the simulation component 200, input data comprisingobserved transportation infrastructure data includes weather data,roadway data, and roadway environmental conditions that at least includetraffic profiles, road construction data, prior road conditions,maintenance actions, and environmental conditions. This input data isstored in and accessed from one or more databases 210, including a roadnetwork database 212, a road environment database 214, and an hourlyweather database 216. The input data is ingested into a road conditionmodel 220 which, together with a maintenance response module 230,performs modeling of road conditions and maintenance activities togenerate output data that simulates appropriate winter maintenanceactivities to specific weather situations and road conditions. Thisoutput data may be stored in one or more additional database locations240, in a simulated hourly road conditions database 242) and in asimulated maintenance activities database 244.

The road condition model 220 and maintenance response module 230 mayingest additional input data relative to maintenance policies andmaintenance resource configurations from a maintenance policy database250 and a maintenance resource database 260. This additional input datamodulates the simulation of the road condition model 220 withmaintenance responses to weather conditions experienced in at least aportion of a transportation infrastructure by applying either arules-based model for a specific weather and road condition situationbased on an agency's standard maintenance response, or adynamically-determined maintenance prescription based on availablemaintenance resources. Therefore, the simulation component 200 can beconfigured to either utilize rule-based approaches to determining theappropriate winter maintenance response for each situation, or to createdynamic maintenance prescriptions for the situation based on an agency'swinter maintenance policies and the available maintenance resources asdefined for the simulation location.

Output data from the modeling of road conditions and maintenanceactivities stored in the plurality of databases 240 may then beaggregated in a component index module 270 and communicated through oneor more servers 280 that are at least configured to enable various dataprocessing functions for manipulating the output data 202 as describedbelow.

The resulting weather, road condition, and maintenance data can then beapplied in various data processing functions that explore therelationships between, for example, simulated and real-world costs andconditions. In particular, many of the elements of the simulatedmaintenance data 202 are directly related to the correspondingquantities reported via the agencies' data collection system(s) and areinterpreted, aggregated and visualized in the present invention using agraphical user interface as discussed further herein.

The winter maintenance simulation capability of the simulation component200 relies upon the basic premise that the behavior of the mixture ofwater, snow, ice and freeze point depressants (the ‘dynamic layer’) atopa roadway can be modeled. Simulating its characteristics and evolutionrequires sophisticated road condition modeling performed by a pluralityof data processing functions in one or more modules of the presentinvention. These processes include modeling pavement behavior, naturaleffects on precipitation, and external influences on the type ofprecipitation experienced.

Data processing that accounts for pavement behavior includes heatexchange between air and pavement, emission and absorption of infraredradiation, time-varying pavement reflectance, and internal heatconduction. Data processing functions for modeling natural effectsassociated with precipitation including processes taking into accountevaporation, sublimation, conduction of heat, condensation, frostformation, natural phase changes, absorption, insulation, and freezepoint variances, and the present invention further permits coupling ofmass and energy balance as a feature of such modeling. Additionally,data processing that accounts for external influences on precipitationand pavement conditions includes processes for modeling the effects oftraffic spray, traffic compaction, actions of treatment vehicles,condition-dependent precipitation adherence, water runoff, chemicalrunoff, chemically-induced phase changes, chemical dilution, chemicalremoval, and effects of residual chemicals.

It is to be understood that these are not exhaustive lists of furtherdata processing, and therefore other types of phenomena are alsocontemplated herein. For example, the present invention may includemodules and program instructions configured to perform an explicitcalculation of liquid, ice, frost, compacted snow and snow depths on theroad, allowing for mixed conditions such as slush. The effects of theeffects of freeze-point depressing chemicals may also be modeled, andthe simulation component 200 also permits highly-configurable pavementand maintenance equipment specifications.

From the perspective of a winter severity or maintenance demand index,one distinction offered by the simulation-based approach in this second,simulation component 200 of the present invention is that it yields anexplicit simulation of the winter maintenance activities required toaddress the weather and road conditions each maintenance route isexposed to, rather than attempting to draw expert-based or statisticalrelationships between simplified representations of the weatherconditions and maintenance activities based on historical actions whichmay or may not have been appropriate, or required, to meet the desiredlevel of service. While the resulting data can be used as the basis forone or more specific indices intended to normalize specific aspects ofwinter maintenance resource utilization, the simulated data itself isthe unique building block offered by this approach, as it removes themystery from the relationships between weather, road conditions, andmaintenance activities. The relationships between cause and effectbecome more clearly identifiable, as the (e.g.) hour-by-hour time-seriesof weather, road condition, and simulated maintenance activityrequirements are directly available to support assessment of the actualoperations of the agency for the selected time period. Further, thefactors which impact how one agency prefers to react to a given weathersituation can be explicitly accounted for by the simulation, permittingthe tool to be applied across jurisdictional boundaries with confidence.For example, the effects of varying levels of service (road conditionpolicies), traffic patterns, available deicers and their environmentallimitations, crew and equipment availability, etc., can all beexplicitly configured into and accommodated by the simulation process,providing a realistic basis for comparison of data across jurisdictionalboundaries where these factors may differ, or even within differentparts of the agencies' road networks where practical considerationsnecessitate different real-world responses to similar weatherconditions.

The present invention contemplates that the quantification component 100and the simulation component 200 are capable of being used eithertogether or separately. It is to be understood that quantified wintermaintenance data 102 may be used to separately generate output datarepresentative of independent maintenance activity metrics against whichan outcome of a specific winter transportation maintenanceinfrastructure activity is comparable. It is further understood thatsimulated winter maintenance data 202 may be used to generate outputdata to estimate and identify one or more appropriate maintenanceresponse for each specific weather situation requiring a maintenanceaction. Together, the quantification component 100 and the simulation200 provide a comprehensive data processing tool set for managingperformance and outcome of winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance activities.

The present invention further contemplates, in additional embodiments,that agencies and users are capable of accessing input data and outputdata via a graphical user interface (GUI) that offers a wide range ofcapabilities for manipulating quantified output data 102 and simulatedoutput data 202. A graphical user interface module 300 within both thequantification component 100 and the simulation component 200 providesdata processing functions that at least permit map-based reporting tools310, tabular reporting tools 320, and customized, specific-purposereporting tools 330. Each of these reporting tools functions may beperformed by specific sub-modules within the graphical user interfacemodule 300.

For example, the graphical user interface and module 300 permits theselection of a time period of interest, so that winter maintenanceactivities can be analyzed for a particular shift, weather pattern, dayor storm, over an entire season, or from season-to-season, in a singledata processing display. Users are also presented with options to viewsummarized data in either tabular or map-based presentations. Thetabular presentation provides, for example, access to information pervehicle and road network segment pairing. The map-based presentationprovides, for example, color-coded roads per road network segment, basedupon the parameters selected, with pop-up windows providing access todetails per vehicle for each segment. Within the quantificationcomponent, the parameters selected may include any or all of durationand/or distance the vehicle has driven/plowed/applied material,durations and/or distances for each of up to several plows mounted on aspecific truck, and durations, distances, and/or total quantities ofmaterial applications, optionally provided by component materials ratherthan in mixed forms.

In the graphical presentation of the tabular reporting tools 320 of thequantification component, the data may be provided for eachtruck/segment pairing, one pairing per row, which may be aggregated overany or all of truck, segment, and/or route (a route being a predefinedgrouping of road network segments), in which case data from grouped rowsare aggregated and presented as combined rows in the table. When all ofthe possible aggregations are selected, a single row containing theaggregate data for the entire group of trucks and road segments isprovided, for the time period selected. The columns of the tablesprovide each of the selected parameters for the trucks and/or segmentsmaking up each row of data. The entire table can be sorted numerically,in increasing or decreasing order, on any of the available parameters(e.g., data could be sorted so that the rows containing the largestquantity of a particular component material could be brought to thetop). User-definable filters can be created and saved, permittinginclusion or exclusion of certain trucks and/or road segments from thetabular or map data.

Examples of tabular and map-based presentations of data in a graphicaluser interface in the quantification component 100 are provided in FIG.3 and FIG. 4, respectively. Other summarizations of the data are alsopossible in the present invention, such as comparative data on agencymaintenance actions relative to agency standard practice (orexternally-generated recommendations), and maintenance actions presentedalongside the properties of the road and weather events being treated.Additionally, the quantification component 100 supports the generationof specific reports that are not amenable to the aforementioned tabular,graphical or map-based presentations. These reports are generated byspecialized server-side modules that return the reports in HTML or otherappropriate formats, for display in the GUI or standard web browsers.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screenshot showing a tabular representation ofquantified output data 102. The tabular representation is generated bythe tabular reporting tool 320 of the graphical user interface module300 for display to a user on the graphical user interface according toone embodiment. FIG. 3 depicts options associated with grouping indicia322 and usage indicia 324 that are available using the tabular reportingtools 320. With grouping indicia 322, data may be grouped at least byroute, segment, or truck, and “All” or “None” options may also beavailable. Tabbed presentations of data according to usage indicia 324such “Plow Usage”, “Application Usage”, and “Material Form Usage” mayalso be selected to view quantified data 102, and mode selection indicia304 may also be present for the user to select a mode, such as “ExitMDC/AVL Mode” and “Switch Report Type”.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary map-based representation of quantified data 102generated by the map-based reporting tool 310 of the graphical userinterface module 300 for display to a user on the graphical userinterface according to another embodiment. The map in FIG. 4 showsquantified data 102 after being assigned and aggregated over segments ofan agency's road network. FIG. 4, like FIG. 3, is an exemplaryscreenshot of the graphical user interface according to the presentinvention. FIG. 4 includes several pull-down menus 302 for userselection, such as “File”, “Report”, “Options”, etc. Data in the mapindicia 414 in the map-based presentation of FIG. 4 may also be depictedby usage indicia 412 according to drop-down selections such as “PlowUsage”, “Application Usage” and “Material Form Usage” with additionalpull-down menus 416 for specific variables such as materials andapplications, and may further include color-coded indicia to identify,within each map-based presentation, specific concentrations or types ofmaterials. FIG. 4 may also present special-purpose legend indicia 306,positioned in the example of FIG. 4 in vertical form along theright-side of the GUI.

The quantification component 100 of the present invention also includesdata export capabilities that permit external application of wintermaintenance data. One such application is to Maintenance ManagementSystems (MMS) that focus on higher-level asset management (e.g., timetracking, equipment purchasing/servicing, material procurement andallocation, etc. for winter maintenance) in addition to otherapplications relative to road construction/maintenance. It is thereforepossible to utilize external applications and systems to enhance theunderstanding of data 102 quantified by the present invention, as wellas to leverage external analysis and uses to improve wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance.

As with the data processed and reported in the quantification component100 of the present invention, simulated output data 202 are alsoavailable to the user via a graphical user interface. Different dataprocessing selections may be available for simulated data 104. Forexample, in one embodiment, a user may be permitted to select the timeperiod of interest, whether a particular storm or an entire season. Dataare available in several forms, including graphical depictions of thetime series of weather and simulated road and maintenance data for aparticular segment of road over the selected timeframe, as well asmap-based representations and export capabilities for aggregated data.

FIG. 5 below is an exemplary screenshot of a graphical time-seriesdisplay of weather conditions, and simulated road conditions andmaintenance activities, for a road segment within an agency's roadnetwork. In the example of FIG. 5, pull-down menus 302 are available forselection to the user, such as “File”, “Report”, “Options”, etc. Indicia304 for Mode Selection may also be present, and may include button-likeindicia for “Exit WMRI Mode”, “Switch to Spatial View”, and “SwitchReport Type”. Route selection indicia 526 may also be displayed as a boxto allow a user to select the location for which a time-series data isdisplayed. The graphical time-series display, which shows severaldifferent graphs as noted above, may be coded with indicia 524 on thehorizontal and vertical axes as defined by the user, and may becolor-coded. The GUI may include indicia 522 such as “Custom” and“Defaults” permitting the user to customize the presentation ofgraphical time-series information as needed. It is to be noted that allindicia on the graphical user interface may be shaded or colored in somefashion, and are shown in FIG. 3-9 as gray-scaled or having a gradientfor illustration purposes.

Data are also available on the graphical user interface as tabulardisplays of simulated maintenance data 104 according to the tabularreporting tool 320. FIG. 6 is an exemplary screenshot of a tabular viewon the graphical user interface of simulated maintenance activitiesrequired on a segment of road within an agency's road network. Thescreenshot of FIG. 6, like other screenshots discussed herein, includescommon pull-down menus 302 for user selection such as “File”, “Report”,“Options”, etc. Data in this tabular view are presented in columns 622according to location, time, plow position, application, and materialusage. Indicia 304 for Mode Selection may also be present, and mayinclude button-like indicia for “Exit WMRI Mode”, “Switch to SpatialView”, and “Switch Report Type”. Route selection indicia 526 may also bedisplayed to allow a user to enter specific information.

Additionally, data are further available on the graphical user interfacein the simulation component 200 as map-based presentations of aggregatemeasures of the weather and/or simulated road condition and maintenancedata. FIG. 7 is an exemplary screenshot showing such a map-basedpresentation of aggregate weather, road condition, or maintenance dataas calculated by the simulation system and its input data. In FIG. 7,the variable displayed is simulated salt usage over the selected period.Other Maintenance Variables may also be selected from pull-down menus718, and additional pull-down menus 718, such as Weather Variables,Condition Variables, Configuration Variables, and Severity Indices maybe available to the user to further allow for specific, customizedviews. Pull down menus 302, route selection indicia 526, mode selectionindicia 304, and route types indicia 720 may also be included.Additionally special purpose indicia 306 may be displayed, which areshown in vertical form in the example of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is also a map-based presentation of selected aggregate weather,road condition, or maintenance data as modeled by the simulationcomponent 200. FIG. 8 shows a different view in which a weather variableis displayed, rather than a maintenance variable as in FIG. 7. Theweather variable displayed is the average air temperature over theselected period. Indicia as indicated for FIG. 7 may also be displayed.

The graphical user interface module 300 also includes data exportcapabilities for simulated data 104 to permit external applicationthereof. Similar to the quantification component 100, data exportcapabilities in the simulation component 200 permit external applicationof winter maintenance data, such as with respect to MaintenanceManagement Systems (MMS) that focus on higher-level asset management(e.g., time tracking, equipment purchasing/servicing, materialprocurement and allocation, etc. for winter maintenance) in addition toother applications relative to road construction/maintenance.

Many other data processing functions are also contemplated within thepresent invention and accessible using the graphical user interface. Forexample, the Severity Indices menu 718 provides users access to anequation editor 932 to perform and display complex multivariatecalculations based on the available data elements. FIG. 9 shows ascreenshot similar to that of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, with a calculator tool934 shown for using the equation editor 932.

The equation editor 932 is associated with the map-based reporting tool310 for the simulation component 200, permitting multivariatecalculations based upon available weather, road condition, and/ormaintenance parameters. Numerical indicia appears as it would on acalculator, and weather, condition, maintenance, and configurationvariables may be selected from additional pull-down menus 936. Separateindicia 938 for entering and displaying equations is also available, andthe user may further select to save, display, and cancel the creation ofa multivariate equation entered into the equation editor using indicia940.

Many calculations are permitted in the equation editor 932. For example,a user may multiply the per-mile simulated quantity of a deicer by itsassociated unit cost, and then add the per-mile cost of operating thetruck multiplied by the simulated number of maintenance actions, toarrive at an overall, simulated cost of winter maintenance per-mile forthe selected time period. Alternatively, if a user desired to compareand contrast the simulated data with more traditional measures of winterseverity, the calculator tool 932 can be used to specify the equationfor the particular winter severity measure, at which point thesimulation component 200 applies the underlying weather data tocalculate and display the desired winter severity measure.

It is important to note that while the quantification component 100 andthe simulation component 200 of the present invention offer significantvalue when applied in tandem, neither component requires the other inorder for the present invention to operate and provide value to wintermaintenance managers. Accordingly, the present invention contemplatesthat two components may be utilized either alone or in combination, asdesired by the user, as noted in detail herein.

It is to be understood that other embodiments will be utilized andstructural and functional changes will be made without departing fromthe scope of the present invention. The foregoing descriptions ofembodiments of the present invention have been presented for thepurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Accordingly, many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above teachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of theinvention be limited not by this detailed description.

1. A method of evaluating effectiveness and efficiency of wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance activities, comprising:integrating at least one vendor-independent database, one or moreservers, and multiple data processing functions in at least one dataprocessing module to enable an effective and efficient analysis ofcollected winter transportation infrastructure maintenance data, thecollected winter transportation infrastructure maintenance dataincluding a plurality of road treatment data, road network data, weatherdata, and component apportionment data; quantifying the collected wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance data by applying the multipledata processing functions to associate one or more of maintenanceactions, road network information, weather events, and specificmaintenance component applications by applying the collected wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance data to a transportationnetwork based on a plurality of a GPS position, a determined directionof travel along the coordinate system defined by the transportationnetwork, and lane information provided within data relative to one ormore lanes of the transportation network, segmenting the transportationnetwork to enable an aggregation of data collected along definedsegments comprising the transportation network, and specifying componentmaterials and apportionments of component materials in at least oneselectable mixture comprising the component apportionment data tocompare utilization of the component materials and mixtures beingapplied to the transportation network; and enabling a plurality ofcustomizable applications to quantified winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance data, the customizable applications includingmanipulating a treatment to a roadway surface and correspondingcomponent materials, manipulating environmental variables and theircorresponding attributes, managing data from a diverse fleet oftreatment vehicles, and managing one or more treatment vehicle reportsrepresented at least by GPS tags and time tags and one or more ofassociated maintenance, weather, and road-related data elements, so thatthe collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenance data fromdifferent routes and different vehicles across different responsibleagencies are processed into normalized representations of wintertransportation maintenance activities.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising presenting the quantified winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance data in a graphical user interface.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising presenting the user withselectable characteristics in a plurality of pull-down menus on thegraphical user interface, and enabling a plurality of views of thequantified data, the plurality of views at least including a tabularformat and a map-based format.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising ingesting the collected winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance data from the at least one vendor-independent database. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein the ingesting the collected wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance data further comprisescommunicating with an external database to receive one or more treatmentvehicle reports, communicating with a road network database to receivetransportation network data, communicating with a weather database toreceive weather data, and communicating with an applications database toreceive material mixture component apportionment data.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the ingesting the collected winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance data further comprises communicating with atleast one mobile data collection and automated vehicle location systemcoupled to at least one treatment vehicle.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the manipulating a treatment to a roadway surface andcorresponding component materials further comprises initiating dataprocessing functions that perform retrieving objects associated with thecorresponding component materials, configuring one or more newtreatments comprised of apportionments of the component materials,modifying and updating properties or one or more existing treatments,identifying treatments as deleted, and retrieving objects associatedwith treatments.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the managing a fleetof treatment vehicles further comprises initiating data processingfunctions that perform configuring new treatment vehicles, modifying andupdating properties associated with treatment vehicles, identifyingdeletions of treatment vehicles, and retrieving objects associated withtreatment vehicles.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the managing oneor more treatment vehicle reports further comprises initiating dataprocessing functions that perform creating one or more GPS-tagged andtime-tagged treatment vehicle reports, retrieving objects associatedwith treatment vehicle reports, retrieving an identification of a mostrecent treatment vehicle report from a specific treatment vehicle,modifying and updating properties associated with a treatment vehiclereport, replacing properties of one or more treatment vehicle reportswithout deleting associations of replaced treatment vehicle reports, anddeleting treatment vehicle reports.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinthe managing environmental variables further comprises initiating dataprocessing functions that perform obtaining variables referenced in anenvironmental section of a treatment vehicle report.
 11. A method ofquantifying performance and outcome of winter transportationinfrastructure maintenance activities, comprising: ingesting input datafrom a plurality of external databases that include a database of wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance activities, a road networkdatabase, a weather information database, and treatment and componentmaterials database into a data normalization module configured toassociate winter transportation infrastructure maintenance actions,transportation network information, weather events, and specificmaintenance component applications in roadway treatments; modeling aperformance of the winter transportation infrastructure maintenanceactivities by processing the ingested input data in a plurality of dataprocessing functions to associate winter transportation maintenanceactions with at least one of weather events and treatmentrecommendations, the plurality of data processing functions includingapplying the collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenancedata to a transportation network based on a plurality of a GPS position,a determined direction of travel along the coordinate system of thetransportation network, and lane information provided within the datarelative to one or more lanes of the transportation network, segmentingthe transportation network to enable an aggregation of data collectedalong defined segments comprising the transportation network, andspecifying component materials and apportionments of component materialsin at least one selectable mixture comprising the componentapportionment data to compare utilization of the component materials andmixtures being applied to the transportation network; and generatingoutput metrics of specific winter transportation maintenance activitiesagainst which an outcome of a specific winter transportation maintenanceinfrastructure activity is comparable to evaluate an effectiveness andan efficiency of the specific winter transportation maintenanceinfrastructure activity.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprisingexecuting one or more program instructions resident in at least onememory module and configured to be accessed to perform the dataprocessing functions of the data normalization module.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising presenting the output metrics in agraphical user interface.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thepresenting the output metrics in a graphical user interface furthercomprises presenting the user with selectable characteristics in aplurality of pull-down menus on the graphical user interface, andenabling a plurality of views of the quantified data, the plurality ofviews at least including a tabular format and a map-based format. 15.The method of claim 11, wherein the ingesting the collected wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance data further comprisescommunicating with at least one mobile data collection and automatedvehicle location system coupled to at least one treatment vehicle.
 16. Asystem for evaluating efficiency and effectiveness of wintertransportation infrastructure maintenance activities, comprising: a datanormalization module operably coupled to at least one processor capableof requesting and ingesting information from a plurality ofvendor-independent databases, each database having stored thereon datarelative to winter transportation infrastructure maintenance activitiesthat includes collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenancedata, the collected winter data including treatment data, road networkdata, weather data, and component apportionment data; one or moreprogram instructions accessible by the data normalization module andconfigured to be executed by the at least one processor to 1) performmultiple data processing functions to enable an effective and efficientanalysis of the data relative to winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance activities, the multiple data processing functionsincluding: applying the collected winter transportation infrastructuremaintenance data to a transportation network based on a plurality of aGPS position, a determined direction of travel along the coordinatesystem of the transportation network, and lane information providedwithin data relative to one or more lanes of the transportation network,segmenting the transportation network to enable an aggregation of datacollected along defined segments comprising the transportation network,and specifying component materials and apportionments of componentmaterials in at least one selectable mixture comprising the componentapportionment data to compare utilization of the component materials andmixtures being applied to the transportation network; and 2) generateoutput metrics of specific winter transportation maintenance activitiesagainst which an outcome of a specific winter transportation maintenanceinfrastructure activity is comparable to evaluate an effectiveness andan efficiency of the specific winter transportation maintenanceinfrastructure activity.
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprisinga graphical user interface across which the output metrics are capableof being presented to one or more users.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a plurality ofpull-down menus thereon presenting the user with selectablecharacteristics for manipulating the output metrics, and a plurality ofselectable views of the output data, the plurality of views at leastincluding a tabular format and a map-based format.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the graphical user interface enables a plurality ofcustomizable applications to the data processed by the datanormalization module, the customizable applications includingmanipulating a treatment to a roadway surface and correspondingcomponent materials, manipulating environmental variables and theircorresponding attributes, managing data from a diverse fleet oftreatment vehicles, and managing one or more treatment vehicle reportsrepresented at least by GPS tags and time tags and one or moreassociated maintenance, weather, or road-related data elements, so thatthe collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenance data fromdifferent routes and different vehicles across different responsibleagencies are processed into normalized representations of wintertransportation maintenance activities.
 20. The system of claim 16,wherein the collected winter transportation infrastructure maintenancedata is ingested from at least one mobile data collection and automatedvehicle location system coupled to at least one treatment vehicle andcapable of communication with the data normalization module.